Party Popper

ABSTRACT

Provided is a party popper in which, inside of a cylindrical body having a discharge port at the front end, an explosive charge to be exploded by an operation of pulling a pull string and launchable objects arranged between the explosive charge and the discharge port are accommodated, and the discharge port of the cylindrical body is closed by a lid member that is push-opened by the launchable objects discharged toward the discharge port upon receiving a blast generated by explosion of the explosive charge.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a party popper used in celebratoryoccasions such as Christmas and wedding ceremonies, in which partypopper an explosive charge is exploded by an operation of pulling a pullstring, and launchable objects such as confetti and streamers arelaunched into the air by the resulting explosion.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, as a party popper of this kind, for example, there is aparty popper 42 in which, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, a launchableobject container bag 47 filled with launchable objects 46 is arranged onthe front side of an explosive charge 44 and installed in such a mannerto tightly seal the discharge port 48 by integrally bonding a front-sidebag opening margin 47 a to discharge port margin 48 a of a cylindricalbody 43 (for example, Patent Document 1). According to this party popper42, the launchable object container bag 47 is configured such that, uponreceiving a blast generated by the explosive charge 44, it expands whilebeing inverted and protrudes from the discharge port 48; therefore, bythis action, the launchable objects 46 are launched faraway while beingdispersed at a wide angle and, in association with this inverting actionof the launchable object container bag 47, scattering of the launchableobjects 46 (e.g., confetti) that are directly subjected to a swirlingforce and discharged is promoted, so that an effect of presenting a morespectacular scene is attained.

RELATED ART REFERENCES Patent Document

[Patent Document 1] JP 2007-298187A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

However, in the above-described party popper, a strong explosive forceis required since, in order to launch the launchable objects 46 into theair, it is necessary to allow the launchable object container bag 47 toexpand and protrude while being inverted. Accordingly, there is aproblem that a rather large amount of explosive must be used in theexplosive charge 44.

An object of the present invention is to provide a party popper which,with a small amount of explosive, can realize presentation of a morespectacular scene by launching launchable objects faraway while allowingthe objects to disperse at a wide angle in the air.

Technical Solution

The party popper of the present invention is a party popper in which,inside of a cylindrical body having a discharge port at the front end,an explosive charge to be exploded by an operation of pulling a pullstring and launchable objects arranged between the explosive charge andthe discharge port are accommodated, and the discharge port of thecylindrical body is closed by a lid member that is push-opened by thelaunchable objects discharged toward the discharge port upon receiving ablast generated by explosion of the explosive charge,

wherein

the party popper comprises:

a front-open launchable object container bag to be filled with thelaunchable objects, which launchable object container bag is arranged onthe front side of the explosive charge inside the cylindrical body andinstalled in such a manner to tightly seal the discharge port byintegrally bonding the front-side opening margin of the bag to themargin of the discharge port of the cylindrical body; and

a movable pressure receiver movable in the axial direction of thecylindrical body between the launchable object container bag and theexplosive charge, which movable pressure receiver comprises: apressure-receiving part formed on the side of the launchable objectcontainer bag in the axial direction; and a peripheral wall that standsfrom the pressure-receiving part toward the explosive charge and has across-sectional shape conforming to the inner peripheral shape of thecylindrical body, and is not connected to any member constituting theparty popper,

the movable pressure receiver, upon receiving a pressure from the blast,moves inside the cylindrical body toward the discharge port,

a pressure is applied to the bottom part of the launchable objectcontainer bag by the pressure-receiving part and this causes thelaunchable object container bag to expand while being inverted, as aresult of which the movable pressure receiver and the launchable objectsare pushed out of the cylindrical body, and

the movable pressure receiver thus pushed out of the cylindrical body isstored in the thus inverted launchable object container bag.

By this configuration, the launchable object container bag can be surelyinverted and allowed to expand; therefore, the launchable objects can belaunched faraway while being dispersed at a wide angle in the air, andpresentation of a more spectacular scene can thus be realized with asmall amount of explosive. In addition, since the movable pressurereceiver gets stored in the inverted launchable object container bag,the movable pressure receiver is not released into the air along withthe launchable objects. Moreover, since the movable pressure receiver isallowed to move to the position of the bottom part of the invertedlaunchable object container bag by not connecting the movable pressurereceiver with any of the members constituting the party popper, themoving distance of the movable pressure receiver can be increased, sothat a pressure can be applied to the launchable objects over a longerperiod of time.

The party popper of the present invention is also characterized in thatthe peripheral wall has a shape that is slightly inclined inwardlytoward the pressure-receiving part and a protruding part which protrudesoutwardly is formed on the opening side of the peripheral wall.

By inclining the peripheral wall in this manner, the air resistanceduring the movement of the movable pressure receiver through thecylindrical body can be reduced. Moreover, since the gap between theinner wall surface of the cylindrical body and the outer surface of theperipheral wall is reduced by forming the protruding part on theperipheral wall, the movable pressure receiver is allowed to movestraight without losing the blast pressure as much as possible.

Further, the party popper of the present invention is characterized inthat the movable pressure receiver is formed from a resin.

By this, the frictional force generated between the peripheral wall andthe inner peripheral wall of the cylindrical body is reduced, so thatthe movable pressure receiver is allowed to move smoothly in thecylindrical body.

Advantageous Effects of the Invention

According to the present invention, presentation of a more spectacularscene can be realized with a small amount of explosive by launchinglaunchable objects faraway while allowing the objects to disperse at awide angle in the air.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a pre-discharge state of aparty popper according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a post-discharge state ofthe party popper according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates party poppers of patterns A to F that were used inExamples 1 to 6, respectively.

FIG. 4 is a table showing the results of the flying distance measurementtests performed in Examples 1 to 6.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a pre-discharge state of aconventional party popper.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a post-discharge state ofthe conventional party popper.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A party popper according to one embodiment will now be describedreferring to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustratinga pre-discharge state of a party popper according to one embodiment ofthe present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustratinga post-discharge state of the party popper.

In FIG. 1, a party popper 2 according to the present inventioncomprises: a cylindrical body 3; an explosive charge 4; a movablepressure receiver 5; launchable objects 6; and a launchable objectcontainer bag 7.

The cylindrical body 3 is a tube-shaped or polygonal-shaped cylindricalmember made of a cardboard, a plastic or the like, in which a dischargeport 8 is formed at the front end and a holding part 10 is arranged onthe rear side. At the discharge port 8, a front-end protruding part 12 aof an exterior paper 12 wrapped on the outer surface of the cylindricalbody 3 is utilized as a lid member 14, and the discharge port 8 isclosed by folding the lid member 14 toward the discharge port 8 in anoverlapping manner.

The explosive charge 4 is so-called “pull-cap” which is exploded by anoperation of pulling a pull string 16, and the explosive charge 4 isinstalled in such a manner to be received by an explosivecharge-receiving plate 18. The pull string 16 passed through theexplosive charge 4 extends from the explosive charge-receiving plate 18to the rear side of the cylindrical body 3.

The movable pressure receiver 5 is a closed-bottom cylindrical resinmember which is arranged in the cylindrical body 3 between thelaunchable object container bag 7 and the explosive charge 4 in a stateof being movable along the axial direction. The movable pressurereceiver 5 comprises: a pressure-receiving part 5 a which is formed onthe side of the launchable object container bag in the axial direction;a peripheral wall 5 b which stands from the periphery of thepressure-receiving part 5 a toward the explosive charge; and acylindrical space 5 c which is surrounded by the peripheral wall 5 b andthe pressure-receiving part 5 a, and a protruding part 5 d whichprotrudes toward the outer side of the space 5 c is formed on theopening side of the peripheral wall 5 b. The peripheral wall 5 b isconfigured to have a tubular or polygonal cylindrical shape inconformity with the shape of the cylindrical body 3 and slightlyinclined inwardly toward the pressure-receiving part 5 a. The movablepressure receiver 5 is not connected with any of the membersconstituting the party popper 2, such as the explosive charge-receivingplate 18, by a connecting member such as a string. It is preferred thatthe movable pressure receiver 5 be configured to have a height (H) of 20mm to 25 mm.

The launchable objects 6 are composed of confetti, streamers and thelike and loaded into the launchable object container bag 7. Prior to theuse, since the mouth of the launchable object container bag 7 is alsoclosed by the lid member 14 that closes the discharge port 8 of thecylindrical body 3, the launchable objects 6 do not spill out of thelaunchable object container bag 7.

The launchable object container bag 7 is a front-open bag made of, forexample, a vinyl chloride resin film or sheet or a thin cloth, which hasexcellent softness and flexibility and is not torn even by the pressureof a blast generated by explosion of the explosive charge 4. In thecylindrical body 3, the launchable object container bag 7 isaccommodated on the front side of the explosive charge 4. A bag openingmargin 7 a on the front side of this launchable object container bag 7is folded back on the outer circumference of the discharge port 8 of thecylindrical body 3, and the outer circumference of the thus folded bagopening margin 7 a is pressed against the outer circumference of thecylindrical body 3 by the exterior paper 12 and integrally bonded to andischarge port margin 48 a. This configuration enables to attain a statewhere the launchable object container bag 7 is installed in such amanner that it tightly seals the discharge port 8 and is not detachedfrom the discharge port margin 48 a even when a blast pressure generatedby explosion of the explosive charge 4 is applied thereto.

The party popper 2 configured in this manner is held by holding theholding part 10 of the cylindrical body 3 with one hand and, when thepull string 16 is pulled by the other hand to cause explosion of theexplosive charge, a blast generated by the explosion makes the movablepressure receiver 5 to move vigorously through the cylindrical body 3toward the discharge port 8. In association with this, a bottom part 7 bof the launchable object container bag 7 is pushed by thepressure-receiving part 5 a of the movable pressure receiver 5, and thelaunchable object container bag 7 is thereby inverted. As a result, thelaunchable objects 6 are pushed and the lid member 14 is push-opened bythe launchable objects 6, whereby the launchable objects 6 arevigorously ejected from the discharge port 8 into the air.

As the movable pressure receiver 5 continues to move and exits thedischarge port 8, the bottom part 7 b of the launchable object containerbag 7 continues to be pushed by the pressure-receiving part 5 a of themovable pressure receiver 5, as a result of which the launchable objectcontainer bag 7 expands and protrudes while being inverted. In thisprocess, since the bag opening margin 7 a of the launchable objectcontainer bag 7 is integrally bonded to the discharge port margin 8 a,the launchable object container bag 7 is not detached from and thus doesnot fly out of the cylindrical body 3.

When the launchable object container bag 7 expands while being inverted,the launchable objects 6 are launched in such a manner to spread at awide angle in all directions. Particularly, since the launchable objects6 such as confetti are discharged by being directly subjected to theinverting action of the launchable object container bag 7, scattering ofthe launchable objects 6 is promoted, so that the effect of presenting ascene is further enhanced.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, once the launchable object container bag 7 hascompletely expanded and been entirely inverted, the movable pressurereceiver 5 is caught and stopped by the bottom part 7 b of thelaunchable object container bag 7 and thereby prevented from moving anyfurther. The movable pressure receiver 5 whose movement is thus stoppedgets stored in the launchable object container bag 7 without beingdischarged into the air.

According to the party popper 2 of this embodiment, since the launchableobject container bag 7 is surely inverted and expanded by the movementof the movable pressure receiver 5 formed in conformity with the shapeof the cylindrical body 3 caused by a blast pressure, the launchableobjects 6 can be launched faraway while allowing them to disperse at awide angle in the air, so that presentation of a more spectacular scenecan be realized with a small amount of explosive.

In addition, since smoke and odor generated by explosion of theexplosive charge 4 are confined in the launchable object container bag7, the smoke and odor are not released to the outside. Moreover, sincethe movable pressure receiver 5 gets stored in the inverted launchableobject container bag 7, the movable pressure receiver 5 is not releasedinto the air along with the launchable objects 6. Therefore, the laborof recovering the movable pressure receiver 5 that has been dischargedand needs to be disposed of can be omitted.

Further, since the frictional force generated between the peripheralwall 5 b and the inner peripheral wall of the cylindrical body 3 isreduced by constituting the movable pressure receiver 5 with a resinmember, the movable pressure receiver 5 is allowed to move smoothly inthe cylindrical body 3. In addition, by processing the movable pressurereceiver 5 to have a closed-bottom cylindrical shape, the weight of themovable pressure receiver 5 can be reduced.

Still further, by forming the protruding part 5 d on the peripheral wall5 b, the gap between the inner wall surface of the cylindrical body 3and the outer wall surface of the peripheral wall 5 b is reduced andleakage of the blast to the outside of the space 5 c can thereby beprevented; therefore, the blast can be concentrated in the space 5 c, sothat the movable pressure receiver 5 is allowed to move straight withoutlosing the blast pressure as much as possible. Moreover, since theperipheral wall 5 b is slightly inclined inwardly toward thepressure-receiving part 5 a, the air resistance during the movement ofthe movable pressure receiver 5 through the cylindrical body 3 can bereduced. In order to reduce the air resistance, the pressure-receivingpart 5 a may be configured to have, for example, a cupular shape.

Yet still further, by configuring the movable pressure receiver 5 tohave a height (H) of not less than 20 mm, the movable pressure receiver5 can be stabilized and its movement in straight line can be enhancedand, by controlling the height (H) of the movable pressure receiver 5 tobe 25 mm or less, the weight of the movable pressure receiver 5 can bereduced.

Furthermore, in cases where the movable pressure receiver 5 is connectedwith the explosive charge-receiving plate 18 or the like by a connectingmember such as a string (see the patterns B and F illustrated in FIG.3), the connecting member may interfere with the movement of the movablepressure receiver 5; however, such a problem does not occur as long asthe movable pressure receiver 5 is not connected to any of the membersconstituting the party popper 2. By not connecting the movable pressurereceiver 5 to any of the members constituting the party popper 2, asillustrated in FIG. 2, the movable pressure receiver 5 is allowed tomove to the position of the bottom part 7 b of the completely invertedlaunchable object container bag 7; therefore, the moving distance of themovable pressure receiver 5 can be increased, so that a pressure can beapplied to the launchable objects 6 for a longer period of time.

EXAMPLES

Examples of experiments that were performed using the party popper 2according to the present embodiment and party poppers according to otherembodiments will now be described. In the experiments, a user firstprepared 5 party poppers having different structures (party poppers ofpatterns A to E illustrated in FIG. 3). Next, the body of each partypopper was fixed horizontally to the ground on a 60 cm-high stand set ina room with no air flow, and a projectile measurement test was performed10 times for each party popper.

As the projectile, a single cotton ball of about 20 mm in diameter wasused in place of the launchable objects 6 such as confetti andstreamers. The measurement was performed by visually determining thedistance of the first landing point of the cotton ball from the partypopper. It is noted here that a flying distance of “0” indicates thatthe cotton ball was not discharged from the discharge port.

Example 1

In Example 1, as illustrated in the pattern A of FIG. 3, the projectilemeasurement test was performed using a party popper of the pattern A,which is the party popper according to the present embodiment. As aresult of the experiment, as shown in the table of FIG. 4, the flyingdistance of the cotton ball was measured to be 400 to 890 cm, and it wasthus found that a long flying distance can be stably ensured with theuse of the party popper of the pattern A.

It is noted here that the party popper of the pattern A was slightlydifferent from the party popper 2 described in the present embodiment inthat a rod-shaped member was attached to the movable pressure receiver.By attaching the rod-shaped member to the movable pressure receiver, thecenter of the gravity of the movable pressure receiver can be emphasizedduring the movement of the movable pressure receiver in the axialdirection, so that the straightness of the movement of the movablepressure receiver can be enhanced.

Example 2

In Example 2, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the projectile measurement testwas performed using a party popper of the pattern B, which is one of theparty poppers according to other embodiments. The party popper of thepattern B is the party popper of the pattern A whose movable pressurereceiver was connected with the explosive charge-receiving plate by aconnecting string. As a result of the experiment, as shown in the tableof FIG. 4, out of the 10 measurement tests, the cotton ball was notdischarged in seven tests while the cotton ball was discharged and flownin the other three tests. In those cases where the cotton ball wasflown, the flying distance of the cotton ball was found to be short at275 to 495 cm. These results are believed to be attributable to, forexample, interference of the movement of the movable pressure receiverby the connecting string.

Example 3

In Example 3, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the projectile measurement testwas performed using a party popper of the pattern C, which is one of theparty poppers according to other embodiments. The party popper of thepattern C is a conventional party popper in which no movable pressurereceiver is arranged as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 and which has asingle explosive charge 44. As a result of the experiment, as shown inthe table of FIG. 4, the cotton ball was not discharged in all of the 10measurement tests. These results are believed to be attributable to, forexample, that the reduction in the number of explosive charges to onecaused a reduction in blast and this resulted in insufficient blastpressure for appropriately allowing the launchable object container bagto be inverted and expand, or that the projectile could not fly due toclogging of the discharge port by the pressurized launchable objectcontainer bag prior to the ejection of the projectile.

Example 4

In Example 4, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the projectile measurement testwas performed using a party popper of the pattern D, which is one of theparty poppers according to other embodiments. The party popper of thepattern D is the party popper of the pattern A whose movable pressurereceiver was replaced with a paper round pan of less than 1 mm inthickness. As a result of the experiment, as shown in the table of FIG.4, out of the 10 measurement tests, the cotton ball was not dischargedin five tests while the cotton ball was discharged and flown in theother five tests. In those cases where the cotton ball was flown, theflying distance of the cotton ball was found to be short at 320 to 630cm. These results are believed to be attributable to, for example, thatthere were cases where the paper round pan was deformed or could notmove straight in a state perpendicular to the axis of the cylindricalbody since the paper round pan was excessively thin, or that thelaunchable object container bag could not be appropriately inverted andexpanded and thus the projectile could not fly due to clogging of thedischarge port by the pressurized launchable object container bag priorto the ejection of the projectile.

Example 5

In Example 5, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the projectile measurement testwas performed using a party popper of the pattern E, which is one of theparty poppers according to other embodiments. The party popper of thepattern E is the party popper of the pattern A whose movable pressurereceiver was replaced with a styrofoam round pan of less than 7 mm inthickness. As a result of the experiment, as shown in the table of FIG.4, out of the 10 measurement tests, the cotton ball was not dischargedin six tests while the cotton ball was discharged and flown in the otherfour tests. In those cases where the cotton ball was flown, the flyingdistance of the cotton ball was found to be short at 500 to 660 cm.These results are believed to be attributable to that the launchableobject container bag could not be appropriately inverted and expandeddue to insufficient weight of the styrofoam round pan, which lead toinconsistent results.

Example 6

In Example 6, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the projectile measurement testwas performed using a party popper of the pattern F, which is one of theparty poppers according to other embodiments. The party popper of thepattern F is the party popper of the pattern A whose launchable objectcontainer bag was removed and movable pressure receiver was connectedwith the explosive charge-receiving plate by a connecting string. As aresult of the experiment, as shown in the table of FIG. 4, the cottonball was flown in all of the measurement tests. In those cases where thecotton ball was flown, the flying distance of the cotton ball was foundto be stable at 290 to 460 cm; however, the flying distance was shorterthan a case where a party popper comprising a launchable objectcontainer bag as in Example 1. These results are believed to beattributable to, for example, interference of the movement of themovable pressure receiver by the connecting string.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS

-   -   2: party popper    -   3: cylindrical body    -   4: explosive charge    -   5: movable pressure receiver    -   5 a: pressure-receiving part    -   5 b: peripheral wall    -   5 c: space    -   5 d: protruding part    -   6: launchable object    -   7: launchable object container bag    -   7 a: bag opening margin    -   7 b: bottom part    -   8: discharge port    -   10: holding part    -   12: exterior paper    -   12 a: front-end protruding part    -   14: lid member    -   16: pull string    -   18: explosive charge-receiving plate

1. A party popper in which, inside of a cylindrical body having adischarge port at the front end, an explosive charge to be exploded byan operation of pulling a pull string and launchable objects arrangedbetween said explosive charge and said discharge port are accommodated,and said discharge port of said cylindrical body is closed by a lidmember that is push-opened by said launchable objects discharged towardsaid discharge port upon receiving a blast generated by explosion ofsaid explosive charge, wherein said party popper comprises: a front-openlaunchable object container bag to be filled with said launchableobjects, which launchable object container bag is arranged on the frontside of said explosive charge inside said cylindrical body and installedin such a manner to tightly seal said discharge port by integrallybonding the front-side opening margin of said bag to the margin of saiddischarge port of said cylindrical body; and a movable pressure receivermovable in the axial direction of said cylindrical body between saidlaunchable object container bag and said explosive charge, which movablepressure receiver comprises: a pressure-receiving part formed on theside of said launchable object container bag in said axial direction;and a peripheral wall that stands from said pressure-receiving parttoward said explosive charge and has a cross-sectional shape conformingto the inner peripheral shape of said cylindrical body, and is notconnected to any member constituting said party popper, said movablepressure receiver, upon receiving a pressure from said blast, movesinside said cylindrical body toward said discharge port, a pressure isapplied to the bottom part of said launchable object container bag bysaid pressure-receiving part and this causes said launchable objectcontainer bag to expand while being inverted, as a result of which saidmovable pressure receiver and said launchable objects are pushed out ofsaid cylindrical body, and said movable pressure receiver thus pushedout of said cylindrical body is stored in the thus inverted launchableobject container bag.
 2. The party popper according to claim 1, whereinsaid peripheral wall has a shape that is slightly inclined inwardlytoward said pressure-receiving part, and a protruding part whichprotrudes outwardly is formed on the opening side of said peripheralwall.
 3. The party popper according to claim 1, wherein said movablepressure receiver is formed from a resin.
 4. The party popper accordingto claim 2, wherein said movable pressure receiver is formed from aresin.